Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu also known as Keiki (October 28, 1837 – November 22, 1913) was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming at keeping some political influence. After these efforts failed following the defeat at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi in early 1868, he went into retirement, and largely avoided the public eye for the rest of his life. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was born in Edo as the seventh son of Tokugawa Nariaki, daimyo of Mito. Mito was one of the gosanke, the three branch families of the Tokugawa clan which were eligible to be chosen as shogun. His birth name was Matsudaira Shichiromaro. His mother, Princess Arisugawa Yoshiko, was a member of the Arisugawa-no-miya, a cadet branch of the imperial family; through her, he was a third cousin (once removed) of the then-Emperor Ninko. Shichiromaro was brought up under strict, spartan supervision and tutelage. His father Nariaki followed the example of the second Mito daimyo,
Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1661-1690), who had sent all his sons after the firstborn to be raised in Mito. Shichiromaro was seven months old when he arrived in Mito in 1838. He was taught in the literary and martial arts, as well as receiving a solid education in the principles of politics and government at Kodokan. At the instigation of his father, Shichiromaro was adopted by the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa family in order to have a better chance of succeeding to the shogunate and changed his first name to Akimune. He became family head in 1847, coming of age that year, receiving court rank and title, and taking the name Yoshinobu. Upon the death of the 13th shogun, Iesada, in 1858, Yoshinobu was nominated as a potential successor. His supporters touted his skill and efficiency in managing family affairs. However, the opposing faction, led by Ii Naosuke, won out. Their candidate, the young Tokugawa Yoshitomi, was chosen, and became the 14th shogun Iemochi. Soon after, during the Ansei Purge, Yoshinobu and others who supported him were placed under house arrest. Yoshinobu himself was made to retire from Hitotsubashi headship. The period of Ii's domination of the Tokugawa government was marked by mismanagement and political infighting. Upon Ii's assassination in 1860, Yoshinobu was reinstated as Hitotsubashi family head, and was nominated in 1862 to be the shogun's guardian, receiving the position soon afterwards. At the same time, his two closest allies, Matsudaira Yoshinaga and Matsudaira Katamori, were appointed to other high positions: Yoshinaga as chief of political affairs, Katamori as Guardian of Kyoto (Kyoto Shugoshoku). The three men then took numerous steps to quell political unrest in the Kyoto area, and gathered allies to counter the activities of the rebellious Choshu Domain. They were instrumental figures in the kobu gattai political party, which sought a reconciliation between the shogunate and the imperial court. In 1864, Yoshinobu, as commander of the imperial palace's defense, defeated the Choshu forces in their attempt to capture the imperial palace's Hamaguri Gate (Hamaguri-Gomon) in what is called the Kinmon Incident. This was achieved by use of the forces of the Aizu–Satsuma coalition. After the death of Tokugawa Iemochi in 1866, Yoshinobu was chosen to succeed him, and became the 15th shogun. He was the only Tokugawa shogun to spend his entire tenure outside of Edo: he never set foot in Edo Castle as shogun. Immediately upon Yoshinobu's ascension as shogun, major changes were initiated. A massive government overhaul was undertaken to initiate reforms that would strengthen the Tokugawa government. In particular, assistance from the Second French Empire was organized, with the construction of the Yokosuka arsenal under Léonce Verny, and the dispatch of a French military mission to modernize the armies of the bakufu. The national army and navy, which had already been formed under Tokugawa command, were strengthened by the assistance of the Russians, and the Tracey Mission provided by the British Royal Navy. Equipment was also purchased from the United States. The outlook among many was that the Tokugawa Shogunate was gaining ground towards renewed strength and power; however, it fell in less than a year.
Fearing the renewed strengthening of the Tokugawa shogunate under a strong and wise ruler, samurai from Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa formed an alliance to counter it. Under the banner of sonno joi ("revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians!") coupled with a fear of the new shogun as the "Rebirth of Ieyasu" who would continue to usurp the power of the Emperor, they worked to bring about an end to the shogunate, though they varied in their approaches. In particular, Tosa was more moderate; it proposed a compromise whereby Yoshinobu would resign as shogun, but preside over a new national governing council composed of various daimyos. To this end, Yamanouchi Toyonori, the lord of Tosa, together with his advisor, Goto Shojiro, petitioned Yoshinobu to resign in order to make this possible. On November 9, 1867, Yoshinobu tendered his resignation to the Emperor and formally stepped down ten days later, returning governing power to the Emperor. He then withdrew from Kyoto to Osaka. However, Satsuma and Choshu, while supportive of a governing council of daimyos, were opposed to Yoshinobu leading it. They secretly obtained an imperial edict calling for the use of force against Yoshinobu (later shown to be a forgery) and moved a massive number of Satsuma and Choshu troops into Kyoto. There was a meeting called at the imperial court, where Yoshinobu was stripped of all titles and land, despite having taken no action that could be construed as aggressive or criminal. Any who would have opposed this were not included in the meeting. Yoshinobu opposed this action, and composed a message of protest, to be delivered to the imperial court; at the urging of the leaders of Aizu, Kuwana, and other domains, and in light of the immense number of Satsuma and Choshu troops in Kyoto, he dispatched a large body of troops to convey this message to the court. When the Tokugawa forces arrived outside Kyoto, they were refused entry, and were attacked by Satsuma and Choshu troops, starting the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, the first clash of the Boshin War. Though the Tokugawa forces had a distinct advantage in numbers, Yoshinobu abandoned his army in the midst of the fight once he realized the Satsuma and Choshu forces raised the Imperial banner, and escaped to Edo. He placed himself under voluntary confinement, and indicated his submission to the imperial court. However, a peace agreement was reached wherein Tayasu Kamenosuke, the young head of a branch of the Tokugawa family, was adopted and made Tokugawa family head; On April 11, Edo Castle was handed over to the imperial army, and the city spared from all-out war. Together with Kamenosuke (who took the name Tokugawa Iesato), Yoshinobu moved to Shizuoka. Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, had also retired to Shizuoka, centuries earlier. Iesato was made the daimyo of the new Shizuoka Domain, but lost this title a few years later, when the domains were abolished. Even after losing his position as ruling shogun, Yoshinobu strove to promote his son Iesato's political career so that he could attain the highest level of influence in the Japanese Imperial court, and also serve as a bridge between old world Japan and modern emerging Japan both domestically and internationally. The close relationship between father and son is highlighted in the illustrated biography on Prince Tokugawa Iesato titled The Art of Peace. Many of the hatamoto also relocated to Shizuoka; a large proportion of them did not find adequate means to support themselves. As a result, many of them resented Yoshinobu, some of them to the point of wanting him dead. Yoshinobu was aware of this, and was so afraid of assassination that he redesigned his sleeping arrangement to confuse any potential assassin. Living a life in quiet retirement, Yoshinobu indulged in many hobbies, including oil painting, kyudo (archery), hunting, photography, and cycling. Some of Yoshinobu's photographs have been published in recent years by his great-grandson, Yoshitomo. His other great-grandson, Yasuhisa Tokugawa of the Mito line, is the former Chief Priest at Yasukuni Shrine and current Kaicho of the Kokusai Budoin (IMAF). In 1902, the Emperor Meiji allowed him to re-establish his own house as a Tokugawa branch (bekke) with the highest rank in the peerage, that of prince (koshaku), for his loyal service to Japan.
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan. Forming one of the military branches of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF), it was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Army Ministry, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan, the supreme commander of IJAF. In the mid-19th century, Japan had no unified national army and the country was made up of feudal domains (han) with the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu) in overall control, which had ruled Japan since 1603. The bakufu army, although a large force, was only one among others, and bakufu efforts to control the nation depended upon the cooperation of its vassals' armies. The opening of the country after two centuries of seclusion subsequently led to the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War in 1868. The domains of Satsuma and Choshu came to dominate the coalition against the shogunate. After the defeat of the Tokugawa shogunate and operations in Northeastern Honshu and Hokkaido a true national army did not exist. Many in the restoration coalition had recognized the need for a strong centralized authority and although the imperial side was victorious, the early Meiji government was weak and the leaders had to maintain their standing with their domains whose military forces was essential for whatever the government needed to achieve. The leaders of the restoration were divided over the future organization of the army. Omura Masujiro who had sought a strong central government at the expense of the domains advocated for the creation of a standing national army along
European lines under the control of the government, the introduction of conscription for commoners and the abolition of the samurai class. Okubo Toshimichi preferred a small volunteer force consisting of former samurai. Omura's views for modernizing Japan's military led to his assassination in 1869 and his ideas were largely implemented after his death by Yamagata Aritomo. Aritomo has been described as the father of the Imperial Japanese Army. Yamagata had commanded mixed commoner-samurai Choshu units during the Boshin War and was convinced of the merit of peasant soldiers. Although he himself was part of the samurai class, albeit of insignificant lower status, Yamagata distrusted the warrior class, several members of whom he regarded as clear dangers to the Meiji state. In March 1871, the War Ministry announced the creation of an Imperial Guard (Goshinpei) of six thousand men, consisting of nine infantry battalions, two artillery batteries and two cavalry squadrons. The emperor donated 100,000 ryo to underwrite the new unit, which was subordinate to the court. It was composed of members of the Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa domains, who had led the restoration. Satsuma provided four battalions of infantry and four artillery batteries; Choshu provided three battalions of infantry; Tosa two battalions of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and two artillery batteries. For the first time, the Meiji government was able to organize a large body of soldiers under a consistent rank and pay scheme with uniforms, which were loyal to the government rather than the domains. The Imperial Guard's principal mission was to protect the throne by suppressing domestic samurai revolts, peasant uprisings and anti-government demonstrations. The possession of this military force was a factor in the government's abolition of the han system. The conscription ordinance enacted on January 10, 1873, made universal military service compulsory for all male subjects in the country. The early Imperial Japanese Army was developed with the assistance of advisors from France, through the second French military mission to Japan (1872–80), and the third French military mission to Japan (1884–89). However, after France's defeat in 1871 the Japanese government switched to the victorious Germans as a model. From 1886 to April 1890, it hired German military advisors (Major Jakob Meckel, replaced in 1888 by von Wildenbrück and Captain von Blankenbourg) to assist in the training of the Japanese General Staff. In 1878, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office, based on the German General Staff, was established directly under the Emperor and was given broad powers for military planning and strategy. Other known foreign military consultants were Major Pompeo Grillo from the Kingdom of Italy, who worked at the Osaka foundry from 1884 to 1888, followed by Major Quaratezi from 1889 to 1890; and Captain Schermbeck from the Netherlands, who worked on improving coastal defenses from 1883 to 1886. By the 1890s, the Imperial Japanese Army had grown to become the most modern army in Asia: well-trained, well-equipped, and with good morale. However, it was basically an infantry force deficient in cavalry and artillery when compared with its European contemporaries. Artillery pieces, which were purchased from America and a variety of European nations, presented two problems: they were scarce, and the relatively small number that were available were of several different calibers, causing problems with ammunition supply.
The Tokugawa clan is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful daimyo family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of the clan remains a mystery. The nominal originator of the Matsudaira clan was reportedly Matsudaira Chikauji, who was originally a poor Buddhist monk. He reportedly descended from Nitta Yoshisue in the 8th generation and witnessed the ruin of the Nitta in their war against the Ashikaga. He settled at Matsudaira (Mikawa province) and was adopted by his wife's family. Their provincial history book claimed that this original clan was Ariwara clan. Because this place is said to have been reclaimed by Ariwara Nobumori, one theory holds that Matsudaira clan was related to Ariwara no Narihira. The clan rose to power at the end of the Sengoku period. To the end of the Edo period they ruled Japan as shoguns. There were fifteen Tokugawa shoguns. Their dominance was so strong that some history books use the term "Tokugawa era" instead of "Edo period". Their principal family shrine
is the Tosho-gu in Nikko, and their principal temples (bodaiji) are Kan'ei-ji and Zojo-ji, both in Tokyo. On November 9, 1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and the last shogun of Tokugawa, tendered his resignation to Emperor Meiji. He formally stepped down ten days later, returning governing power to the Emperor, marking the end of the ruling power of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Awards: Collar, sash and star of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, Stars of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers, the Order of the Rising Sun and the Order of the Sacred Treasure.
